WWUTT 944 He Has Established His Throne for Justice?

The Lord God is a righteous judge, and he looks out for his people.

He will protect us not only from our enemies on the outside, but even those who would rise up against us from within when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of the Psalms, and I'm going to attempt to pick up the pace a little bit.

We'll at least get through Psalms 9 and 10 today, since these two Psalms go together.

If you were to read this in the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Old Testament, or in the

Latin, Psalms 9 and 10 are just one Psalm. You'll notice in the English, even as we read it in English here, that 10 picks up right where 9 leaves off.

But even though there's some similarities, there's also some differences, and we'll talk about that as we go through this.

In the Hebrew, these two Psalms are an acrostic. That means it's kind of a word puzzle going on.

Each line begins with a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It's not quite a perfect acrostic, but this can be done as both a memory tool, and it's also a form of poetry.

We're going to lose that, of course, reading it in English, but understand that that was very meaningful for a

Hebrew to review these Psalms in such a way to cherish the language in that form. That's just one of the kinds of things that we lose reading the translation that we have.

We get the meaning of the Psalm. We certainly don't lose that, translating it from Hebrew into English, but some of the neat little nuances and poetic patterns and things like that, we don't quite grasp that.

It plays on words even sometimes. It works in Hebrew, doesn't work as well in English. Anyway, so let's read through Psalm 9.

I'm going to read just the first few verses here, and then we'll pause. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.

I will recount all of your wondrous deeds. I will be glad and exult in you.

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence, for you have maintained my just cause.

You have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment. You have rebuked the nations.

You have made the wicked perish. You have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins.

Their cities you rooted out. The very memory of them has perished. And then there's a bit of a turn when we jump into verse 7.

So let's just review that so far, those first six verses. So we begin with David saying,

I give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. And isn't that what the Lord requires of us?

That we love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. So as David makes his appeal before the

Lord here in this particular Psalm, he is presenting before the

Lord that I love you with everything and praises his name as O Most High.

If you'll remember back to last week, chapter 8, Psalm 8, where David begins,

O Lord, our Lord, he repeats the name twice. He says, O Yahweh, our Lord, he who reigns on high, who is sovereign over all, over all of creation, and then beholds the creation, the work of God's hands.

So we still kind of have that theme even following into Psalm 9, worshiping God as creator of all things, since he is judge over all.

So David praised God as creator of all. And then in Psalm 9 as judge over all.

And the reason why God is judge over all is because he's created all. So both praises kind of flow together between these two

Psalms. Now, David is actually praising God for a victory in this particular

Psalm. So the enemies have already been destroyed. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence, for you have maintained my just cause and you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

God's righteous judgment is the reason why David's cause is just, because God has judged

David to be faithful and has given his favor upon the king that sits on the throne of Israel.

You have rebuked the nations. You have made the wicked perish. You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

Now this is something that God has said even in his law, that those who have transgressed the law, those whom

God has ruled to destroy, he will blot out their name forever.

Now I remember one time having a conversation with, I'm pretty sure this guy was an atheist. I know he was definitely a skeptic, critical of the

Bible. But anyway, he said, have you ever heard of an Amalekite before? And I said, well, yeah, certainly.

It's one of the enemies of Israel in the Bible. And he said, right, because the Bible is wrong. And I'm going, okay,

I'm not really quite sure how you draw that conclusion. And he said, well, because God said,

I will blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. And yet we all know who the

Amalekites are. The Amalekites are mentioned in the Bible. And I said to him, here was my reply.

I said, can you introduce me to an Amalekite? And he was kind of, well,

I don't know. Are there Amalekites on earth? I said, no, because the memory of them has been blotted out from under heaven.

There are no more Amalekites. That nation does not exist on earth because God did what he said he was going to do.

He was going to blot out the memory of them from under heaven. There would not even be an heir to the throne of Amalek.

There's no one left to carry on the name of that king and the name of that nation.

They're gone. And yet, you know, of the nation of Israel to this day, it exists. You can point to it on a map because the

Bible says I will leave a remnant. Romans chapter 11, except their hearts are going to be hard. So Israel does exist, but they do not follow after Christ because of their heart and hearts.

But God said, I will blot out the memory of Amalek. You cannot find a descendant of Amalek on earth because the memory of him has been blotted out.

This doesn't mean that the name is going to cease to exist. We're never even going to know that such a people existed.

It's a figure of speech, meaning that there will be no descendants of this nation, and you won't be able to travel to the place of the

Amalekites here on planet earth. You can't do it. Of course, he said that that was a convenient argument, but he was bound and determined that the

Bible contradicted itself because Amalek was supposed to be blotted out from under heaven. And yet his name is still in the

Bible. Anyway, clearly somebody doesn't understand context. But this is the same sort of a thing that David is saying here.

As God had said in the law that I will blot out their name forever and ever. So David has said, you have done this for my enemies.

The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins, never to rise again, never to regroup and try to come against David and enact vengeance.

David's victory is so total that he's able to be at peace. He is at comfort and God's people are safe.

Their cities you rooted out, David says, the very memory of them has perished.

No one is going to look upon that nation with fondness because they're gone.

No one is going to envy that people. They were utterly destroyed. Verse seven, but the

Lord sits enthroned forever. He has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness.

He judges the peoples with uprightness, with rightness.

All of the ways of God are good is essentially what David is saying here. And again, this even goes back to the law, the book of Deuteronomy, where it says his work is perfect for all his ways are justice.

A just God is he. Deuteronomy 32 for God, again, is the one who is judge over all because he has created all

David recognize that recognizes that in his praises and worships the Lord for all of his wonderful attributes.

But not only is the Lord a conqueror, a judge, he is also verse nine, a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

And those who know your name put their trust in you. For you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you sing praises to the

Lord who sits enthroned in Zion. Tell among the peoples his deeds for he who avenges blood is mindful of them.

He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Now we're talking about those peoples who have been affected by these enemies.

David has conquered the enemies. He's destroyed them. And the enemies that we're talking about here in particular in Psalm nine are

Gentile enemies. That's that's an important distinction because the identity of the enemy changes when we get to Psalm 10.

And remember, both of these Psalms flow together. So the Gentile enemies have come against the Jews and they've been somewhat successful.

I mean, when you have a war being fought between two nations, there's going to be losses on both sides.

So even though David has struck down these enemies with the Lord's help and the memory of them has been blotted out from under heaven, nevertheless, the people of Israel have sustained losses.

And so there are people now who are oppressed because the men, the head of the household, they died in battle.

And now you have widows and orphans. But David says that God avenges blood, and he is mindful of those who have been wronged in this way that the loved one, the provider of their house has been taken.

And he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Be gracious to me,

O Lord, see my affliction from those who hate me. Oh, you who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may recount all your praises that in the gates of the daughter of Zion, I may rejoice in your salvation, daughter of Zion.

So even though the the kingdom of Israel has been successful against these enemies and was the mighty warrior between the two of them,

Israel was the one who was mighty. Nevertheless, before God, when compared to God and his might and his ways and his justice,

Zion is but a daughter to the great father overall. And so David is asking that you look upon the condition of Zion after a battle like this kind and see that we are but a needy daughter that is that is in need of your benevolence.

Verse 15, the nations have sunk in the pit that they made in the net that they that they hid their own foot has been caught.

The Lord has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.

The wicked shall return to shield all the nations that forget God for the needy shall not always be forgotten and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you.

Put them in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know that they are but men.

This is not a king sitting on his throne, imagining himself to be God, which is what a lot of those pagan nations did, especially when we're talking about Gentiles, such as the enemies that David had just struck down.

But they aren't gods. They're but puny men. And David is saying, remind them that they are but men, lest they blaspheme the

Lord God by exalting themselves. So here we go into Psalm 10. And once again,

Psalm 9 and 10 are one Psalm. They kind of flow together. But the enemy, the identity of the enemy in Psalm 10 changes as opposed to the

Gentiles in Psalm 9. The enemy in Psalm 10 is actually fellow

Israelites. Let's continue with that. So Psalm 10, verse 1. Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor.

Let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the

Lord. In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him. All his thoughts are, there is no

God. His ways prosper at all times. Your judgments are on high, out of his sight.

As for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, I shall not be moved.

Throughout all generations, I shall not meet adversity. His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression.

Under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages. In hiding places, he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless. He lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket.

He lurks that he may seize the poor. He seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. He says in his heart,

God is forgotten. He has hidden his face. He will never see it. Arise, O Lord.

O God, lift up your hand. Forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce

God and say in his heart, you will not call to account? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands.

To you, the helpless commits himself. You have been the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call his wickedness to account till you find none.

The Lord is king forever and ever. The nations perish from his land.

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted. You will strengthen their heart. You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed.

So that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Now, verses 16, 17, and 18 are kind of a summary of both of those Psalms, and we'll get to that here in just a moment.

I'm not quite going to go through this line by line, but we'll jump back through and summarize some things. And I don't know how closely you remember when we went through Job.

Doesn't seem like that long ago, but yet it was a long time ago. But some of the things that we're reading here about the wicked in Psalm 10 are the same way that Job described the wicked when he talked about how they prosper and they oppress and they take advantage of the poor.

Job lamented those things, and Job was written long before the Psalms. And so David is even recounting words of someone among the patriarchs like Job who lamented the ways of the of the wicked, the way that the wicked rich man would oppress the righteous or the pious poor man.

Not by the way, not all poor are righteous, which is kind of the way our culture wants you to think of them, or at least those who have socialism in mind.

They want you to think of all rich people as evil and all poor people are inherently good.

That's not the way that works. That would be showing partiality, in fact, which the law strongly forbids.

So we're talking specifically about that greedy rich person who has nothing but riches on his heart and taking advantage of those to make himself better.

And then the person who is pious before God and trust in the Lord for everything, but doesn't have as much wealth.

So we're talking about not just an economic position, but also a spiritual position where we're talking when we're talking about the difference between this wicked rich man and the pious poor man.

So here, once again, in arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor, let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

Everything that is in chapter nine is past tense. The enemy has already been conquered. He's already been destroyed.

And David says that they have been caught in the net that they laid for themselves. Well, here is

David is talking about a judgment that needs to come upon the wicked person who takes advantage of the poor, even within their own nation.

He's asking that the same thing would happen for these wicked people that happened for the wicked

Gentiles. This guy's laying a snare to take advantage of and manipulate people.

And may he instead fall into his own snare may become evident to everyone who it is that's oppressing others so that his wicked deeds would be exposed.

And he is able to be judged. Now, David, as the king over Israel, it's going to be his responsibility as a judge over Israel, a

God appointed judge to issue judgment on this person who is taking advantage of the poor.

Remember that the Psalms are public songs. So Psalm 10 would have been a song that David would have encouraged the people of Israel to sing and worship while, let's say, an investigation was going on or a wicked man was being brought to trial or David was having to issue judgment upon a person who was found guilty of taking advantage of the poor.

In which case, this would be the song that Israel would sing so that God's righteous judgment would be done in Israel.

David, as a righteous king, following the law of God, the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the

Lord. He says in his heart, there is no God. Why is it that he does such wicked things?

Even among the people who have been called out of slavery by God and given a promised land and God's favor is upon them.

Why would a man act so wickedly when God has given them so much? Because in his heart, he has decided

God's not really there. He has forgotten all the promises that had been given to Israel.

He's forgotten the blessings and curses. He's forgotten the issuance of the law and that those who keep the law will continue in the favor of God.

He has said in his heart, there is no God. Down to verse seven, his mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression.

Under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. Then down in verse 11, he says in his heart,

God is forgotten. He has hidden his face. He will never see it. So it's like this person is saying

God's forgotten all about the blessings and curses part of Deuteronomy. Yeah, that part where it says that if I disobey the law, all this will happen to me.

He's forgotten about all that. That was for a different time and a different place and a different people.

But that God is not with us anymore. It's almost like he's like a deist anti -theonomist.

He believes that God did give the law, may say such a thing, may continue to show piety in the temple, stuff like that.

But he doesn't actually believe that God is still with his people and enforcing that law or that God is with David, who is bringing judgment upon the wicked person in his own land.

So in verse 13, it goes on. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, you will not call to account?

But you do see, you note the mischief and vexation that you may take it into your hands to you.

The helpless commits himself. You have been the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call his wickedness to account till you find none.

Break his arm so that he's no longer able to manipulate people and that we may know who this wicked guy is because his arm is out of joint.

And then we have the summary of both Psalms nine and ten in the last three verses.

The Lord is king forever and ever. So he reigns over Israel. He reigns leading

Israel into battle against enemies, the kings of other nations. And he is also the righteous judge over his own people in Israel.

The nations perish from his land. There's the reference to the nations. Oh, Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted, those who have been afflicted by other nations and even by their own people.

You will strengthen their heart. You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed.

And we've had fatherless and oppressed mentioned in both Psalms, whether made fatherless by Gentiles or even by oppressive

Jews who in their hearts have said God is not even there to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Be he Jew or Gentile. And so the Lord will deal with us the same way.

He is protecting us from our enemies on the outside, like those who are not part of the church at all.

Do not profess faith in Christ in any way. He is going to deliver us from their wrath.

And then he's also delivering us from wolves that come from within people who claim to be followers of Christ.

But instead, they are accusers of the brethren and they beat their fellow servants.

The parable that Jesus gave in Matthew 24, when Jesus returns, he's going to bind them and cast them out with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So you who worship the Lord, fear his name and exalt his name. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. We hope you are a part of a church family committed to gospel teaching, and we thank you for including us in your

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